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> Patrick Strudwick said: “I call on the new coalition
> government to do three things: a) introduce regulation of
> counsellors and psychotherapists as quickly as possible; b)
> introduce new NHS guidelines stating that anyone found to be
> attempting to alter someone’s sexual orientation will be sacked
> and c) give all those in the NHS working with patients LGBT
> specific training.”

He did a great job with his expose and an award would help keep the issue live, but its a crying shame that he has a blind spot for the almost identically unethical, and even more harmful therapy practised against transsexual people, not least on the NHS against transsexual children. Restricting his call for sacking to those who try to change sexual orientation whilst asking for specific training on LGBT, unfortunately makes him look like just another of those who stick T on the end without meaning it.

To me its really shocking that, with Patrick’s expose, and then all the publicity about George Reckers and his teenage male escort, it still seems not to have entered the awareness of the LGB community that the “reparative” techniques used now (compared to the electro shock tried previously) were all developed by Reckers and a few colleagues initially to “cure” transsexual girls, who they saw as extreme “pre-homosexual”. Almost all of Reckers’ papers and books up until the 1990s were about gender identity in children, and how important it was to make male children identify as boys. Then they adapted it for use against gays and lesbians, but didn’t end their work on trans people.

“I call on the new coalition government to do three things: a) introduce regulation of counsellors and psychotherapists as quickly as possible; b) introduce new NHS guidelines stating that anyone found to be attempting to alter someone’s sexual orientation will be sacked and c) give all those in the NHS working with patients LGBT specific training.”

This highlights how insidious and dangerous the Waddington Amendment is. One of the reasons that amendment was added was to make sure that “gay cure” therapy remained legal.

Waddington Amendment: “The discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred”

Absolutely reprehensible. Waddington’s aims are as clear as day, and even some gay people welcomed the amendment, thinking it “reasonable”. Thanks to this amendment, the very thing that Strudwick is campaigning against is now protected by law. The Tories would never do away with this amendment, but I just hope that, if we pressure them enough, they will at least take Strudwick’s advice and make the NHS an exception to this terrible rule.

Personally, I’d like to see the British Psychological Society get off its ass and threaten to revoke the licenses of practitioners caught engaging in this sort of activity. I know that medicine, especially in an area as vague as mental health, must have leeway so that individual doctors are allowed to treat patients in the way they think best. But, there are certain procedures that are so harmful that no doctor should be allowed to perform them. I’d put conversion therapy under that banner, and I’d like to see it banned in this country. It’s nowhere near as big a problem for us as it is in America, but so long as it still hurts people, it’s still a problem.

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